Fortified Wine

Sweet Vermouth

Sweet vermouth is red, Italian-style vermouth, about 16% ABV, spiced and bittered with wormwood; labelled sweet, it must carry 130g or more of sugar per litre under Regulation (EU) 251/2014. It is the second ingredient in the Manhattan and a third of every Negroni and Americano, and it is why those drinks taste rounded rather than sharp.

Quick Facts

ABV16% ABVBottlings run 15 to 18%.

Legal categoryAromatised wineVermouth is wine, not spirit

OriginItaly

Flavour Strengthmedium bold

SeasonYear-round

Our keeping timeAbout three or four weeks in the fridge once opened.

Storage

Unopened, anywhere cool and out of the light. After opening, we keep it in the fridge door, capped tightly.

Allergens

Contains: sulphites.

The ingredient

About Sweet Vermouth

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

HerbalCaramelSpiceBitter-sweet

Tasting Notes

Dried fruit, vanilla and baking spice over a wine base, with a bitter wormwood finish holding the sugar back.

The red side of vermouth

Sweet vermouth is the rosso style: wine spiced and bittered with wormwood, sweetened, coloured and lifted to about 16% ABV with added alcohol. At least 75% of it is wine, so in law it counts as aromatised wine, not liqueur or spirit. A sweet label means 130g of sugar per litre or more, where a dry vermouth has under 50.

Three styles sit within the red

Rich Torino-style rossos lead with vanilla, cocoa and dried fruit. Carpano Antica Formula is the usual example; its producer names saffron and wormwood among its botanicals and vanilla in its bouquet. They suit whiskey drinks, where plenty of spirit meets them.

Lighter rossos are fresher and more herbal, and they suit drinks where Campari already carries the weight. The third style is bitter. Punt e Mes, also from Carpano, takes extra bitterness from cinchona, and it is still a vermouth. In the Red Hook the recipe names it, because that bitter finish keeps the maraschino from taking over.

Sweet vermouth styles compared (the Antica Formula notes from Carpano’s own page; the rest our tasting)

Rich Torino rosso

Example: Carpano Antica Formula
Leading flavours: Vanilla, dried fruit, cocoa
Bitterness: Low, late
Our drinks that suit it: Manhattan, Boulevardier, Vieux Carré

Lighter rosso

Example: Many standard Italian rossos
Leading flavours: Herbs, red fruit, spice
Bitterness: Moderate
Our drinks that suit it: Negroni, Americano, Gin and It

Bitter rosso

Example: Punt e Mes
Leading flavours: Orange, cinchona, wormwood
Bitterness: High, at the finish
Our drinks that suit it: Red Hook

Style	Example	Leading flavours	Bitterness	Our drinks that suit it
Rich Torino rosso	Carpano Antica Formula	Vanilla, dried fruit, cocoa	Low, late	Manhattan, Boulevardier, Vieux Carré
Lighter rosso	Many standard Italian rossos	Herbs, red fruit, spice	Moderate	Negroni, Americano, Gin and It
Bitter rosso	Punt e Mes	Orange, cinchona, wormwood	High, at the finish	Red Hook

Equal parts show its condition

In a Negroni or an Americano it is at least a third of the liquid, and in our Manhattan it is 20ml beside 50ml of rye. At those proportions a stale bottle is obvious. In our experience an open bottle loses its fresh fruit and herbal lift within weeks, and what is left tastes of stewed sugar.

We keep it cold and stoppered and use it within a month; buy the bottle size that suits how often you mix. Tired vermouth flattens more stirred drinks than any other fault.

Using it

Using Sweet Vermouth

Usage

Stirred, in equal or near-equal measures with a spirit and a bitter: 30ml each in the Negroni and the Boulevardier, 30ml with Campari and soda in the Americano, and 20ml with 50ml of rye in our Manhattan. Gin and It takes 25ml against 50ml of gin. It also stands alone over ice.

Pro Tip

If a Manhattan or a Negroni tastes dull, replace the vermouth before you change the whiskey or the gin. It is the cheaper ingredient to replace and the likelier one to be tired.

Top Tips

Match the style to the drink: a rich Torino rosso for whiskey, a lighter one where Campari already brings the weight.
A bitter style such as Punt e Mes changes the drink; use it where the recipe names it.
We keep it in the fridge once opened and aim to finish it in a month.

Possible Substitutions

Pedro Ximénez Sherry: Changes the balance a great deal

Production Method

A wine base steeped with wormwood plus vanilla, citrus peel or spice in the richer styles, then sweetened, coloured and lifted to about 16% ABV with added alcohol.

History & Context

Carpano’s own site dates its Antica Formula vermouth to Turin in 1786. The firm's bitter Punt e Mes takes its name, by Carpano’s own account, from an order in the Carpano shop on 19 April 1870: a stockbroker, talking of shares that had risen a point and a half, asked in dialect for his vermouth with half a measure of cinchona added.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is sweet vermouth?

Red, Italian-style vermouth: wine flavoured with wormwood and spice, sweetened and strengthened to about 16% ABV with added alcohol. Older recipes call it Italian vermouth or rosso, so gin and Italian means gin and sweet vermouth. The Manhattan and the Negroni both take it.

Is Punt e Mes a sweet vermouth?

Yes, a bitter one. Carpano, now part of Fratelli Branca, describes it on its own site as a red vermouth with the bitterness of cinchona added, so it starts sweet and finishes sharply bitter. Where a drink names it, as the Red Hook does, an ordinary rosso plus a few drops of bitters is the nearest swap, not an equal one.

Does sweet vermouth need to be refrigerated?

Once opened, yes, in our experience. At about 16% there is too little alcohol to stop air working on the wine, so a bottle left warm goes flat in a fortnight or so in our experience. We keep it stoppered and cold, where it holds its fruit for three or four weeks.

How much sweet vermouth goes in a Manhattan?

Ours pairs 20ml of it with 50ml of rye and Angostura, stirred, two parts vermouth to five of whiskey. A richer Torino rosso suits it, since there is enough whiskey to carry the vanilla and dried fruit without the drink turning sweet.

What can I use instead of sweet vermouth?

Another red vermouth is the only close swap. A medium or sweet sherry with Angostura brings body and sugar without the wormwood, and an amaro makes a darker, more bitter drink, not a copy. Taste before you adjust the other measures.

How strong is sweet vermouth?

Usually 15 to 18% ABV, and our recipes use 16% for their units. That puts 30ml at 0.48 UK units, close to what half a single measure of gin adds to a Negroni.

What is the difference between Italian and French vermouth?

In old recipes, Italian means sweet red vermouth and French means dry white, after the countries each style was first known from. Both countries now make both. Read Italian as sweet and French as dry, and the measures in an old bar book make sense.

Sources.

Correct as of 16 October 2026.

legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EU) No 251/2014, Article 3 (retained)”.
legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EU) No 251/2014, Article 6 (retained)”.
Carpano (Fratelli Branca Distillerie), “Antica Formula” (producer’s page, in Italian).
Carpano (Fratelli Branca Distillerie), “Punt e Mes” (producer’s page, in Italian).

From the Guides

What sweet means on a vermouth label

Make something

Made with Sweet Vermouth

Featured In These Cocktails

Boulevardier Americano Gin & It Vieux Carré Negroni Manhattan

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Often Used With

Updated 16 October 2026

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